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Unread 26-08-2004, 09:45
Andrew Andrew is offline
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Re: Weight

I want to second (or third or fourth) the thanks to ChrisH for his comments on how to manage weight budget. We have been bitten for the past two years by the weight constraint (despite paying attention to it and modeling all parts of our robot) and had to delete a module each year. We were planning to implement something like ChrisH's system this year, because wondering where we were in terms of weight caused a lot of stress. We didn't think of "Weight Czar" as the title for the Configuration person though!

When people talk about the "bad old days" of 80 lbs in FiRST, they do not seem to remember that we have a lot of weight allocated to required components, many of which are heavier than their equivalents back then. The battery, control system and cables, backup battery, fuse panels, blinky lights, numbers on four sides of your vehicle, etc. are all a substantial portion of a robot's weight (25 lbs). If you use pneumatics, I think you have 10-15 lbs taken in valves, compressor, tubing, regulators, etc. Also, the motors (drills and chips in particular) are more powerful but heavy.

This past year's requirement that all modules must fit into the 130 lb probably made teams with lots of design and fabrication resources have to either make design compromises in the modules or cut the number of modules on their robots.

I would say that the 130 lb constraint is "comfortable." It does limit teams that can "do everything" and make them prioritize what is important. Teams that don't pay attention to it will get bitten. However, teams that are just getting started are not likely to bump into it. It is consistent with the size constraints. I.e. a robot that is 30"x36" with all the required components will come in around 130 lb.

If FIRST knocked 5 lb off the weight requirement, it would present a challenge to most teams. I don't think adding 5 lb would be a good idea though. Knocking 10 lb off the requirement would create a significant imbalance that would probably result in less exciting competitions.

Regarding procedural changes at competitions, such as weigh in before competing, FIRST should be very careful about this. The staffs putting on competitions are clued in about the previous years' procedures. When you throw something new at them, they take some time to accommodate it. I suspect that you would have a lot of forfeits on matches in the beginning, either because of battery-to-battery variation, scale-to-scale variation, last minute repairs that result in a couple of ounces on a robot, etc. You would also have a continuous line at the weighing station throughout the competition.

What would you gain? The truly competitive teams are extremely unlikely to be gaining an unfair advantage by going over weight. They would probably reserve 1-2 lb and add an adjustable weight mechanism. At the weigh in station, they would add/subtract the few ounces necessary to get them into weight. The teams which are not so experienced would be the ones getting eliminated. And, does this really help FIRST achieve its mission?
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